Christmas Eve 24 th December Celebrated

The night before Christmas is celebrated as Christmas Eve 24 th December. Basically this is the evening that marks the beginning of this festival. The Mass of the Vigil is said to begin in the late afternoon or early evening hours of December 24.

Thus as per the religious dictum the Christmas Eve 24 th December heralds the start of the Christmas season which continues through until the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord on the Sunday following the Solemnity of the Epiphany. A typical feature of this eve that is performed by the Roman Catholics and Anglicans is the Mass at midnight on Christmas Eve. What is significant is that it is a mass that5 held is all churches across the globe and it is this mass that marks the beginning of Christmas Day.

Christmas Eve 24 th December thus begins with the midnight mass which in some cases now start as early as 7 P.M. However quite a number of Catholic churches hold a candlelight service which is typically held earlier in the evening and in this we often see the services feature dramatizations of the Nativity. In this day during this evening we see several worship services that are performed in many Protestant churches on Christmas Eve. These services hold true in all sects across Christianity and in this we see that many Methodists come to their church to celebrate Holy Communion with their families.

During the religious occasions on the Christmas Eve 24 th December the mood is very solemn. The masses are often held in the dark and often the only visible light is the Advent Wreath, and the candles upon the Lord's Table. Over the years there have been many rituals that have been associated with this special evening and a significant one is the Nine Lessons and Carols, which are broadcast annually from King's College, Cambridge on Christmas Eve. In fact for the general public this is one ritual that marks the beginning of Christmas in the United Kingdom.

Christmas Eve 24 th December often is followed by a traditional dinner and this includes turkey or ham as the main item. Different countries have different customs and for instance in Czech Republic and Slovakia as a Christmas dinner we have a fish soup and breaded roasted carp with potato salad while in Italy the Catholic community eat seven types of seafood. This is also the night for gift sharing and in this night we see Santa Claus or his international variants, make their rounds giving gifts to good children. Christmas Eve